'Cane mutiny will do no good -- there will be a next time, so prepare

Last year's hurricanes caused enough damage to pools and their enclosures, but in some cases, homeowners made the damage worse.

Pool professionals say many pools popped out of the ground or were damaged in other ways unnecessarily because of owner negligence or ignorance.

If a storm is coming, consider these rules to help mitigate damage to your pool and enclosure:

Rule No. 1: Don't empty the pool.

When the rain falls, it does more than fill up the pool; it also saturates the soil underneath the pool. When that happens, the water in the pool is the only thing that keeps the concrete shell from floating up on the ground water and popping out of the earth.

"There is no reason to drain your pool," says Nils Erickson of Erickson Custom Pools and Spas in Orlando, South Daytona Beach and Clermont.

Yet that is exactly what many people did during the hurricanes, say pool builders.

"I went to 13 pops," says Tony Caruso of TC Water Features in Orlando, "And they are not covered by insurance; it's owner negligence."

Steve Bludsworth, president and owner of All-Pool Service & Supply of Orlando, says, "There were a number of people who, unfortunately, drained their pools. We went to more pool pops in a month than we do in a year."

Homeowners can drain some water if they fear water could overflow into the house, say builders, but they should be careful.

One pool builder had a client who meant to drain only a few inches, but then the electricity went off and the family left the house. When the electricity came back on, so did the pump, pumping the pool dry and causing it to pop out of the ground.

Lesson learned: If the electricity goes off during the storm and you later leave your home, be sure to turn off the breaker for your pool pump.

Rule No. 2: Keep your trees trimmed off your screen enclosure.

Falling trees did much damage to pools and enclosures. Keeping tree limbs away from enclosures and the pool lessens the chance that the limbs will fall and cause damage during a storm. It also decreases the amount of debris that has to be removed from the screen or the pool throughout the year.

Rule No. 3: Regularly inspect your pool enclosure for signs of weakness. Check the cables regularly to make sure they are taut and securely fastened. It doesn't take a hurricane to damage a screen enclosure that is not secured properly. A good thunderstorm can kick up enough breeze to do that.

Some pool builders suggest that homeowners with old screen enclosures contact a screen-enclosure builder to have their structures inspected. Builders also can check to see if the structures can be made stronger, as code requires newer enclosures to be.

Pool builders are mixed on the idea of cutting screen panels in several places in advance of a storm to allow the wind to blow through more easily.

Rule No. 4: Don't throw patio furniture or other items into your pool when a hurricane is coming. They can damage the interior finish.

Chris Palmer of Palmer Pools Corp. in Winter Springs says he saw a lot of damage to pool interiors caused by items that were put in the pool by homeowners.

One pool owner sawed off his slide and threw it into the pool as well as a table with a glass top that shattered inside the pool.